1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to a program generator, and more particularly to a program generator by which a flow-chart depicted on a display screen can be edited as desired by the system designer and when the edition is complete, a program can be automatically generated corresponding to the flow-chart.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
Recently, many warehouses, for example, are automated; namely, warehousing is done these days in the following manner: the freight carried on the belt conveyor is subject to selection by means of a bar code reader or the like at a post in the warehousing line, and further carried on the belt conveyor to those previously defined blocks of the warehouse, for which they are bound as designated at the selection post depending upon their warehousing parameters such as kind, quantity, address or destination, delivery date, etc. On the due delivery date, the freight having been warehoused as above are automatically taken out for transportation on trucks to their respective destinations.
When designing such a automated warehousing system, the system designers take into consideration how the freight is to be treated while being carried on the conveyor system within the warehouse and how to assemble a warehousing system which can handle the freight in a reduced time and with less costs.
In designing a such system, the system designers use generally a flow-chart which permits expressing the movement of the freight in a time series (for example, the flow-chart shown in FIG. 8) and also review the flow-chart by delineating it by a pencil on a sheet of paper.
In many cases, however, a specification of an automated warehousing system as described above and which is first proposed to a system designer is subject to various subsequent changes for various reasons. In such case, the flow-chart will of course also be changed and so the flow-chart must be used with additions or deletions or a new flow-chart be drawn. Thus, the system designers will have to take extremely great pains in designing such a system while creating a flow-chart or flow-charts.
Also when an automated warehousing system as described above is designed and a flow-chart of the system is completed, a subsequent process requiring the automated warehouse function to be according to the logic of the complete flow-chart. Generally, a control computer is used for this purpose.
The languages for use in such control computer include dedicated languages such as ladder diagram, ASSEMBLER, or a variety of advanced languages such as C language, BASIC, etc; however, those who can use a such programming language to create a program precisely based on a given flow-chart are such programmers as are appropriately trained and have a special technique in the field of art. Also, the larger the scale of the automated warehouse, the longer the time for programming. Thus, designing of an automated warehouse in which the freight are systematically handled and moved requires a long time and huge costs.